Saturday, July 12, 2008

Tony Falk addressed the USWO Championship situation, saying Mark Anthony has been stripped due to his leaving the promotion, and that there will be a 6 man tournament next Friday to crown a new champion.

Andy Douglas b Tim Renesto (w/Charming Charles) in a first blood match when Charles missed a cane shot on Douglas and hit Renesto, busting him open. Post-match, a masked man ran out and attacked Douglas. He unmasked to reveal Jay Phoenix, who said he was tired of being a cartoon character and was now using his real name Jeremiah Plunkett.

----I got these links e-mailed to me today and I wanted to share them with everyone. They featuring some familiar faces featuring Randy Hales [who has been the talk of the web site this week] and Power Pro Wrestling. These were post by area worker Beau James and he is featured in a couple of the clips.

The show started with player introductions of the baseball team only to be interrupted by Ravishing Randy and Wildside. Randy announced his candidacy for President. He introduced his Vice President ( Wildside) Randy claimed he would bomb Bells with deodorant to make it smell better. He also said he would not take bribes under the table. All bribes would be over the table. The segment ended with Wildside chanting It’s not too late…. Randy in Eight!

AC Havoc beat The Beast

JR Rich beat Bobby The Butcherman Smith

TIWF TV TITLE The Outlaw beat Steven Rampage and Chico Mendoza

TIWF Tag Team Title Match New Breed of Perfection ( Wildside & Ravishing Randy) beat Lawman Williams & Criss Braggs when Randy hit Lawman with a hubcap when ref was down and Wildside got the pin.

Jawbreaker Jesse Dee beat The Torture King in a hardcore match.

----Crowd was in 273…WayCool and PK Ripper noticeably absent…Jon Seymour made Wildside defend the titles without Waycool.

Friday, July 11, 2008

If you are an old time wrestling fan like me, and you happen to catch the AWA on ESPN Classic, you are brought back to a better time. I very much enjoyed my time in the AWA. For the most part, once Greg Gagne took the word of Nick Bockwinkel that I was not the guy he suspected of getting drugs for the guys and he extended his hand and said "welcome to the company", all was good. I don’t know how that story got started but I was made aware of it in the Meadowlands Arena by Afa “The Wild Samoan #1”. I had walked into the dressing room during one of the big shows that the AWA promoted in conjunction with the NWA. I had then left for a few minutes and when I walked back in Afa asked me in front of everyone "man why does Verne think that you’re dealing drugs?" I said, "you’re crazy" but he said "I’m telling you that’s what Verne was asking about." It was an absurd statement everyone knew that I not only didn’t deal drugs, but I never used them and still don't to this day. I have never had any alcohol. I understand that’s one of the things that Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Hart and I have in common. So I wasn’t all that surprised when Greg Gagne threw me out of the dressing room in Denver and I had to go to my old pal Jimmy Snuka, who was laughing about it but knew that it was a crazy thing. He is the one who sent me to Nick Bockwinkel and luckily his word was good enough for Greg. He gave me a tryout in one match. When I got back to the dressing room he asked me to please hang around and work the main event. I found out from Col DeBeers that him and Snuka went to Greg and asked that I be used in the main event which was their match. They had a coal miners’ glove match and were afraid the local ref’s couldn’t handle it. I found out later from Nick that Denver had historically has the worst wrestling referee’s in the country so I was really a blessing to the boys.

The coal miner’s glove match was an eye opening experience for me. In those days Snuka was still considered unbeatable and the Colonel was going to go over in a screw job finish that I had to be sure not to see. When we did the finish Snuka was “out cold”. Well the arena went dead silent. I would say it was equivalent to what I was told that Madison Square Garden was like when Ivan Koloff beat Bruno Sammartino for the title. I didn’t think much of it, but when I got in the back and talked about it the guys said those people were one step away from rioting. It was bad heat and I didn’t like thinking about it. I can tell you that Greg came to Col. DeBeers and said the finish would have to be changed after that night. It was my only real moment like that. I had one that came close when Nikita Koloff agreed to put over The Russian Assassins in tag matches. It was close but it wasn’t like what happened in Denver that night.

I can tell you that the Gagne’s always paid me well. I used to hang out with girl wrestlers a lot around WWF in the early days and they had always told me they would rather work for the Gagne’s instead of the McMahons because of better pay offs. They were definitely right and I was glad they were. I have almost all good memories of my matches with those guys and doing the TV’s. I remember one time going to Verne and saying we aren’t getting the signals in the ring. He said "who is supposed to be giving them" and I said "you are". He said "I am?" I said "yeah". He said "well no one told me". It was great times for sure we got through it anyway.

One time Nick was commentating and giving the signals but I wasn’t paying any attention and Dangerously jumped on the apron and said "Nick is going to poke a hole in his head with that pencil if you don’t go home". I was lucky enough to work with Sean Michaels and Marty Jannetty when they were working Buddy Rose and Doug Somers. I loved working with these guys. What great matches that they had. I thought Rose and Somers were a great team and they were classic heels and cowards. It was clear that Sean and Marty were a great team. I didn’t predict Sean would reach the heights that he has now, but he was a natural in the ring. I have always been a fan of tag team wrestling. I enjoyed everything about them and if worked properly they can really tear a crowd down. It was just a great time in a fun company for me. I owed a lot to Ray Stevens. He gave me my chance and the guys took to me well and I took well to them.

I knew of two guys in the business, though I am sure there were more but I knew of two, that wrote down every match they ever had. They were Tommy Angel and George South. I used to laugh at those guys but they were right. I wish now that I had followed their lead and done that. I wouldn’t be struggling like I do at times now to remember some of the matches I participated in.

I will tell you the story next week of the Zbyszko and Bockwinkel angle that we did at the Showboat that aired about a week or so ago.

This photo was taken by me in ninenteen eight seven at the home of Afa "The Wild Samoan #1. We were all at a birthday party for Afa Jr. who is currently at the WWE developmental camp. This of course was Hulk and Linda in happier times than we are all currently reading about. It was a really fun day it was great to see Hulk relax all day especially at that time where rest was not something he was able to get alot of.

----"Shooting the Shiznit" with hosts Brian Tramel & Brian Thompson featured a "Free-for-all" with the main topic being the "4th in the Forest" show, Brandon Baxter, message boards, blogs and more with guests Derrick King, Randy Hales and Loose Cannon. Some good stuff from the guests and one of the favorite shows I have done so far.

Jeff Anderson def. Lead Billy via pinfall after a spinebuster. After the match Shane Williams came out and stood behind Jeff till the Wildman turned around and they went nose-to-nose when Edward Idol came out behind Jeff causing Robbie Race to run out and stand behind Shane. Everyone shoved each other around until Shane & Edward tried to leave ringside but got surrounded and slid back into the ring again after Robbie and Jeff pulled an "Idol" and laid down in the middle of the ring. Eventually Ericules came to the ring and attempted to break it up and made a match next week: Edward Idol & Shane Williams VS Robbie Race & Jeff Anderson.

DRI retained the EWP Tag Team Titles after defeating Kole Layton King & Johnny Williams with Willie delivering a death valley driver on KLK for the pinfall. Everybody had a drink of whatever Johnny had in his bottle (which looked like pretty strong stuff considering it made KLK call out Willie and DRI seemed to a kick out of the beverage.) and yet again King had a partner leave him as Williams left to go to the bathroom for the remainder of the match. Afterwards DRI stated that they would defend the EWP Tag Titles against anyone, anywhere with a referee whether it be inside the ring, in the crowd, on the street or on the way to and from Brushy Mountain Pen. In other words, 24/7 rules.

Robbie Race def. Donovan Daniels after a fisherman's suplex into a cradle pin. Donovan spent a good part of the match on the run from Robbie inside and out of the ring though Johnny Williams reemerged from the restroom ready for the tag but he left as Robbie told him they already won.

Trooper T def, the RIP in the flag match by retrieving the flag. Interesting as RIP came out he gave away little American flags to the crowd.

Before the main event started Shane Williams became a king without a country as he was ejected from ringside to keep the match even though this was met with protests from himself and Beau James but he succumbed to the ruling or his team would be disqualified.

The main event of Wayne Adkins, Beau James & Edward Idol VS Shawn Streets, Shane Andrews & Sigmon went to a no-contest after Sigmon turned on Shane Andrews and decked him. Afterwards, Sigmon, Wayne & Beau tried to destroy Andrews' ribs with Wayne and Beau holding the Prodigy in a horizontal angle as Sigmon delivered 2 diving headbutts and a frog splash to his ribs. Sigmon stated afterwards that he was joining with Beau to get his name out more and make it bigger.

I want to give a big thanks to Brian for picking up the slack as I took last week off.

This week we go back to 1983 for an excellent card that featured one of the last few Memphis appearances of Andy Kaufman.

Andy was a comedian who was most famous for his role on the TV show “TAXI”, (back in the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s.) Kaufman’s first match with Jerry Lawler took place on April 05, 1982.

Lawler 1st match:

Andy did a bit where he would wrestle women out of the audience. He billed himself as the “World’s Inter-gender Champion”. Kaufman was in a heel mode and when he was particularly rough on one of the women, Lawler took offense. The King helped a young lady who ended up losing to Andy. Andy did rough her up after the match and there was some pushing and shoving going on between Lawler & Kaufman. This escalated into the Lawler-Kaufman match being booked.

When the match happened, Jerry gave a piledriver to Kaufman and was DQ’d. Soon after this, there was the infamous Lawler-Kaufman appearance on the David Letterman show (which featured the King slapping Kaufman out of his chair on live nationwide tv.)

The next spring, Kaufman came back to Memphis to gain revenge from the earlier abuse he received from the King. He brought in a few masked men as his helpers, but the King usually prevailed.

May 09, 1983

July 2, 1983

25 years ago today, this match took place.

July 11, 1983

Andy’s last match in Memphis was the following week.

July 18, 1983

At the end of these last set of matches, Kaufman and Jimmy Hart had a parting of the ways and became enemies. Andy talked Jerry Lawler into being his partner to team against Jimmy Hart and one of the Assassins. As suspected, Kaufman turned on Lawler and the group pounded the King down.

Around Thanksgiving of 1983, Andy was having respiratory issues and went to a doctor. He was diagnosed with rare type of lung cancer and 5 months later, on May 16, 1984, he died of that cancer. There were always rumors that his death was faked, but they were never substantiated.

----Mark James is the author of “Memphis Wrestling History – Cards, Matches, Results, Newspaper Clippings” Vol 1 and "Vol 2: The Programs 1972 - 1976" James also is the webmaster to the BEST Memphis Wrestling site in the area – www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com - Click on his site and order his books!!

6-28-08Show opened w/ Jimmy Tidwell and the S.O.B.'s [Kilo/Mark Justice] coming to the ring claiming that they are the best thing going right now and are here to take over, as they kept rambling on about how great they think they are Jeremy Moore and Crazy Train hit the ring and jumped them for a bit of revenge after last week. Moore got on the mic and said that if they wanted a fight he was bringing one and challenged them to get in, Tim Davis stopped everyone short and said that we don’t need a re-peat of last week and that tonight they had a match but they weren't allowed to touch till then!

Biscuit beat Sicilian Kid and Lil' Tim in a 3-way to retain the High Risk title.

Arnez beat El Cuella de Rojo

"Dynamite" Seth Knight beat Jason Matthews in an exceptional #1 contender. Motley Cruz attacked them both after the match.

Motley Cruz beat Rob Justice

Tim Davis brought out none other than one half of the “Dazzlers” Ricky Hayes, this brought out Jimmy Tidwell who began trashing not only Ricky but Tim also. S.O.B.'s ran out to Jimmy's side and Jimmy said he wanted Ricky Hayes in a match w/ the S.O.B's tonight no matter what, Tim said that was fine because Ricky would be the special ref for the main event!!!!

“S.O.B.'s” [Mark Justice/Kilo] vs. Moore and Crazy Train went to a no-contest after both teams wouldn't stop fighting. Post match The S.O.B.'s jumped Moore and Crazy, until Ricky tried to step in and help. They handcuffed Moore and Hayes to the ropes and powerbombed Crazytrain off the ropes through 2 chairs. After the match the Babyfaces saved. One of the faces were none other than Chris Rocker!

----About 130 in the crowd they were hot all night for a great show…Rocker lost the JR title at TLCW and then came to NBW for the show.7-5-08

Show opened w/ Allen Walker introducing the newest member of the Board of Directors a changed man, Anthony Watts. While explaining himself, saying he was sorry for the way he had acted, he was abruptly interrupted by Sarge O’Reilly and Billy Russ who had heard Tony was down here again, they called him a turn coat and said he would get his. Sarge said on another note he was also here to wipe the floor with his nemesis Jeremy Moore. Moore came to the ring and said he thought he ridded NBW of Sarge but if he wanted to fight then he would. Tony said that Moore had a match already tonight, but had the perfect opponent for Sarge...... Chris Rocker!Lil' Tim beat Elcuella de Rojo after he pulled his mask off and de Rojo was trying to cover his face and Tim gave him a sunset flip. De Rojo tried to leave the ring but ran straight into Allen, who uncovered his face to reveal Tommy Redneck... Allen said that he told him that he wasn't supposed to be wrestling here, but if he really wanted to wrestle that tonight he has Motley Cruz in a Hardcore match!

Mark Justice was DQ'd against Jason Matthews. Post match him and Kilo kept putting a beating to Matthews until Moore made the save! Anthony Watts said that tonight Moore and Matthews would face the S.O.B.'s [Kilo/Justice]

Motley Cruz beat Tommy Redneck in a brutal match that had the crowd chanting we want more blood!!! Rob was Motley's special ref.

----About 85 or so in the crowd. Good show. This week is The Dazzlers vs. The S.O.B.'s, Sarge vs. Rocker, and Motley vs. Seth Knight…All the angles they ran a few weeks back with XOW seem to be forgotten??

Thursday, July 10, 2008

For entertaining audio reviews of SAW and Nashville’s other wrestling TV show, NWA Main Event, check out Jerkin’ the Curtain radio with Trent Van Drisse and Tommy Stewart.

Reno Riggins (in extreme close up) thanked everyone for their support of SAW as the show closes in on its one year anniversary. Reno gave special props to Big Timmy (the technical guru responsible for putting the TV show together every week), Bob and Lisa at ION, and promoter T.J. Weatherby. Riggins said this would be SAW’s last episode on ION, as the show was temporarily moving back to Comcast 74 (Saturdays at midnight). Riggins announced that in a couple of months, SAW would debut on a major network affiliate in Nashville, and fans would be watching the show “from the lap of luxury.”

Cut to ringside for the opening with Michael St. John and Reno. MSJ said Damian Adams and Kid Kash had unfinished business. They cut to shot from last week of a bloodied up Damian. MSJ said the SAW BOD (enough acronyms for ya?) had major international news concerning the SAW Title later in the show. They talked about the $10,000 bounty on the head of T. J. Harley. They showed footage from last week’s attack on Damian by Jay Phoenix. Reno said somebody slashed Damian’s tires and sugar put in his gas tank.

Riggins said there were a lot of little Indians in the house. “Leprechaun” Cane tried a high crossbody. Not a chance, as Outlaw dropped him with a shoulder breaker. A more refined looking Miss Boogie came out on the ramp to scout Tribal Nation. Lightfoot used a rolling short arm scissors on Cane and smeared him with a basement dropkick, but Cooter cut off the Four Winds Tomahawk Chop with a forearm shot to the face. Cooter hit a fallaway slam for a two count. Reno said Cane and Cooter were in the gym together, but they weren’t quite there yet. Tribal Nation immediately proved his point. Outlaw cleaned house and they hit the Totem Pole (blockbuster Doomsday Device) on Cane.

WINNERS: Tribal Nation in 2:03. Fine for what is was. It made perfect sense for Ms. Boogie to be scouting the Indians. They’ve got an impressive finisher when they hit it solidly, and they did so here. Cane is always entertaining, and even Cooter didn’t look half bad.

(Commercial break)

A video package on “Best of the Best” Chrisjen Hayme aired. He’s arrogant and he’s got game. Hooking up with SAW has been a good move for Hayme.

(Commercial break)

MSJ and Reno were in the ring with Commissioner Mike Sircy, who was sweating like a pig for some reason. On the table in front of them, was a shiny, new championship belt. Sircy talked about how SAW had grown and branched out internationally. Riggins said they were retiring the SAW Television Champioinship and replacing it with the SAW International Championship. Out came Damian in street clothes to receive the new title belt from Sircy. With that, Kash, also in street clothes, entered the ring. “There’s a ceremony going on here, sir,” said St. John. You’ve got to love St. John when he comes out with stuff like that. Kash called Damian unimpressive and undeserving, and said he had beaten him to a pulp.

I’ve got some news for you. You better shine it up. You better take it to bed with you. Hell, you better even shower with it and (bleep) with it. Cuz when you come back to this building. I’m taking it. It’s mine.

Kash threw his towel at Damian and grabbed the belt. They got into a shoving match, which quickly disintegrated into a fight. Damian took Kash down. Kash pulled Damian into a closed guard, then rolled to a mount, but was unable to do any damage. The SAW officials were able to pull them apart. Sircy said enough of this crap. It would be Kash vs. Damian for the new International Title next week.

(Commercial break)

Looking a little worse for wear, Damian was still in the ring with the suits. MSJ told Damian to show his belt to the world. Damian put the belt down and proceeded to cut the most passionate promo of his natural born life. Damian said he had a little “suh-in” to say, and you knew right then, this was a different Damian. Damian said he had been criticized for not expressing himself and he was going to express himself now. Damian said he had taken on “all oncomers” since arriving from Puerto Rico, and worked his way to the top. The female fans chanted “We love Damian.” Damian admitted he had taken Kash too lightly. Damian said Kash had beaten the crap out him and left him laying in his own blood. Damian promised to beat Kash and hurt him real bad before it was over. Kash said he would remain the champion and then finished in Spanish.

Rob Roy McCoy (in his ring gear) attacked Damian and locked him in the crossface chickenwing. MSJ pointed out that McCoy had just gotten off suspension (a slow learner if I ever saw one). Damian passed out as Sircy, Riggins and ref Jess Fields unsuccessfully tried to pry McCoy off.

(30 second commercial break)

We’re back, and there’s five guys trying to get McCoy off of Damian and still having no luck. Sircy signaled for more help. MSJ said Damian had been in the hold for almost 5 minutes. It ended up with seven guys working on McCoy before he would relinquish the hold. They cut to a close up of the expression of agony on Damian’s face, as the fans chanted “USA” at McCoy. The Showtime Rewind replayed McCoy’s heinous attack.

In the interview area, MSJ wanted to know what McCoy was thinking.

Hey, hey the gang’s all here. Michael St. John, admit it. You and all these cretinous halfwits, you missed me….You knew it had to happen. You all knew it had to happen, Reno Riggins, the Board of Directors, Damian Adams. You didn’t think I was going to go away did you? Uh-uh. Even with all your shenanigans. You see, I’m ready here. I’m in my work clothes. I don’t come out here in my street clothes because I take care of business.

A snarling McCoy said all the insufferable morons at SAW liked to play games until somebody got hurt. The fans got McCoy’s attention by chanting “USA” at him. “I’ll show you USA. Rob Roy McCoy is back, and the fun and the pain starts now.”

(Commercial break)

MSJ welcomed Sean Casey and his freaks to the interview area. Casey did his rap, but my attention was draw to the extremely low cut shorts on Tiana and Fallon. MSJ wanted to know what was up with Fallon’s shades. They cut to footage from last week where Fallon distracted Casey by getting too close to Chase Stevens and Casey lost the match. Casey claimed everything was peachy keen in his camp. “Aint’ that right, Fallon? We’re on the same page now, huh?”

2 – SEAN CASEY (with the Freak Squad) vs. CHASE STEVENS

Casey attacked Stevens as he got into the ring. Stevens roared back and Casey took a time out for some TLC from Tiana. Stevens came out after him, so Casey used Fallon as a shield. Casey shoved Fallon towards Stevens. As they started to trade punches, Stevens caught Fallon with an elbow. Stevens went to check on Fallon. Riggins said her eye was black, blue and purple. Well, mostly purple from all the make up that was used for the fake shiner. A blonde guy with a crew cut and sunglasses clobbered Stevens with a steel chair. It was Chris Michaels, the first ever SAW Champion. Cool. Michaels tossed Stevens back in and Casey covered him.

WINNER: Casey at 1:18. Nothing match but a great surprise return.

Michaels raised Casey’s hand. Riggins said Michaels wasn’t under contract, but it looked like he was back in SAW to help Casey get his house in order.

(Commercial break)

With Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” in the background, the camera panned across a brigade of toy soldiers and zoomed on in a loaf of bread with “Millersville Bakery” scrawled on it. “One battle ends. One war’s finished and another begins. We’re going north. We’re marching on. It’s time to hit The Bakery,” said a voice all too familiar to Mike Porter and viewers of NWA Main Event. A huge cowboy boot stomped the bread. The camera panned upward to show a huge man wearing a camouflage t-shirt and holding a plunger in his hand. His face was not visible. The voice began to bark like a dog.

The A-Team graced MSJ with their presence. No Matt Dillinger. Hammerjack was showing off another obscene photo on his cell phone. Some priceless facial expressions here.

Michael, I’m a bit revolted but I can’t look away. I know it’s racing season and everything, but she shouldn’t be doing that with that equine.

Paul said A-Team had been trying to learn how the other half lives, so they went to an establishment to find out what future holds for Boogie Woogie Boy and Arrick Andrews.

An A-Team Film. There was this cheesy lounge music playing as the credits rolled. A-Team was listed as producers, directors, writers and stars. Scene one: A-Team is in the parking lot outside a greasy spoon called Slick Willy’s. Santel wanted to get some sushi. “Around here they call that bait,” said Paul. Scene two: Inside the restaurant, they’re greeted by Miss Boogie. It was Dillinger in drag. Words cannot describe the horror. I wondered if somebody dropped acid in my beer. “This chick’s got an Adam’s apple,” said Paul. Scene Three: Miss Boogie takes their order, swishy as all get out, and makes it clear she’s got a thing for “Wild Man” Dillinger. In the process, they make a joke about the size of fake Miss Boogie’s butt. TVA asks about competition. Paul says Tribal Nation is back and he will make the match. Santel says “nature’s greatest miracle” is a perfect fit for the new International Title. Paul says he’s working on it. Fake Miss Boogie comes back and breaks into song while shaking his/her ass and using a pool cue as an air guitar. Now, I’m sure somebody has dropped acid in my beer. Dillinger is wolfing down the food, and asks fake Miss Boogie if they can meet the chef. Scene Four: Back in the kitchen, the chef is some little guy in a do rag with an XXL fake moustache as Boogie Woogie Boy. They made fun of all the times Boogie had been carried out and all the beating he had taken - “Shaska Whatley and Paul Jones put a knot like this on my daddy’s head back in 1986.” Fake Miss Boogie told fake Boogie he needed to take care and grow some hair. Dillinger looked at the baldness under the dorag. Paul said Boogie could always get plugs. Scene Seven: Back at the table, the busboy was fake Arrick Andrews. Same little guy I think. This was beyond humiliation. Dillinger ended up giving the guy a forearm shot and stomping his ass. Paul gave Dillinger a stern warning about indigestion.

There’s only so many times that Double A and Boogie Woogie Boy can get up. But the last one, was the last one.

Adams said he given Dream Team a glimpse of their future, but there was nothing wrong with manual labor. “At least Arrick Andrews doesn’t have to go back to his job as mop boy at the peep show. Don’t you act so revolted Michael St. John, you’re the reason they need a mop boy.” Paul asked where Dillinger was at. Santel said he hooked up with the waitress.

(Commercial break)

3 – T. J. HARLEY vs. JAY PHOENIX

Phoenix dropkicked Harley’s knee before the opening bell. Harley kept kicking him off, but Phoenix was all over the knee. Harley’s knee went out on a leapfrog attempt. Phoenix applied a variation of the Indian deathlock. MSJ compared the flamboyant appearance of Phoenix to “Exotic” Adrian Street. Harley came with that flying forearm out of left field for a near fall. Phoenix blocked a rolling prawn and got back on the knee. MSJ and Reno talked about Harley being a marked man. Harley hit the fisherman shoulderbreaker from nowhere.

WINNER: T.J. Harley in 2:36. Phoenix looked more formidable in street clothes, but he moved well enough despite the excess girth. Harley’s selling continues to be his strong suit.

A swole, blonde dude with a ponytail snuck up behind Harley, gave him a low blow, and then a DDT. The announce team identified him as Shawn Shultz, “the man that left SAW high and dry when he was the champion.” Shultz knocked Harley unconscious with a DDT onto MSJ’s chair. Shultz flashed one of the posters offering a $10K reward for Harley’s head at the camera and kissed it.

BOTTOM LINE: The best hour of SAW ever. This was what Memphis wrestling was like in its heyday - wild, raw, surprising, funny, dramatic, violent – and they did it with 6 minutes of bell-to-bell action. And it was all in the name of furthering good stories. They’re doing things in a way that make them stick. The payoffs are in the future. They’re in no hurry to get to them, and when they do, you can trust it will be satisfying. I only wish the heat was better. It lags behind the quality of the show. The A-Team Film was an incredible piece of work. You just don’t see vignettes with that kind of complexity on indie pro wrestling shows. They gave viewers no less than six potentially compelling reasons to watch next week’s – 1) Adams/Kash. That should count for two. Damian brought something out that I didn’t know he had in him. Kash is forcing him to raise his game. 2) What will McCoy do next? 3) What’s up with Casey and Michaels and those freaks? 4) How will Miss Boogie strike back at A-Team? 5) Who is behind the bounty on Harley’s head and why? 6) Is Marc Anthony really coming to SAW? You could say three run-ins is too many. And if they do it all the time, it will be. They can’t be like this, or a numbing effect sets in. This was a huge show. Two former champions made surprise returns along with McCoy, a man destined to become the champion if one of the major companies doesn’t sign him first. It was the kind of show that gets viewers into a mindset where they can’t miss an episode because of what might happen.

With the holiday last weekend, I wasn’t expecting a big showing this week. To my surprise, the 3 main shows held their own and some. This week TNA Impact’s overall number dropped, but the share number increased 1 point. How does that happen, you ask? It happens when less people, as a whole, were watching TV that night but the percentage of those people watching Impact was higher. Considering it was 4th of July eve and they actually increased their numbers in the 2nd hour finishing strong with their last 2 quarter hours being the highest rated of the show, that’s impressive!

Smackdown had the most surprising ratings this week. Holidays are never kind to TV ratings. Period! Understandably so, as most people are spending time with family and friends and not watching much TV, but this is Memphis. Of course we all know how Memphis loves wrestling and it showed as Smackdown ended up being tied as the most watched TV show in it’s timeslot! That, my friends, is impressive. It’s a Friday night and it happens to be the 4th of July and people stayed in to watch Smackdown??? WOW!!!

WOW!!! is the only way to describe the RAW ratings from Monday night. The final number was up almost 2 full points and the 3 quarter hours in a row with an 8+ ratings is strong. It’s been a long time since RAW has seen those types of numbers in Memphis. The one black eye was the last 2 quarter hours and the overrun which was the timeslot for the Fatal Four Way. Those last 2 quarter hours dropped over 2 points and the overrun dropped over 4 points from the 9:15 quarter hour that drew an 8.9. Doesn’t look like the fans cared much about the main event.

Sanford and Son and The Andy Griffith Show, which runs in the old Memphis Wrestling timeslot, drew a 3.4 [55,111 viewers] and 3.5 [56,732 viewers] respectively.

“Esther, I could take your face, roll it in some dough, and make some gorilla cookies!”-Fred Sanford

If you have any questions or comments just email me at: rpg187@gmail.com.

Note: The ratings for RAW is listed as 2 separate hours. I will round off, to the highest number, the averages of both hours for the final rating.

----CLICK HERE to take a look at all the regular shows for this weekend. TIWF will be in Bells, TN Friday night for a special card to benefit the baseball team. TLCW will be presenting their “Super Summer Showdown” this coming Saturday and the only match I have been told of is listed.

----TLCW will present Super Summer Showdown. The event begins at 1:00 P.M. at Ripley Park, and continues later that night at the TLCW arena. The main event of the evening will be a "Loser Leaves TLCW Match" between Tattoo and Derrick King.

----Due to my work schedule, STS will be on a full hour earlier this week. If you have ever wanted to call in and talk about anything related to wrestling, then this Thursday is the day to call. Brian Tramel and Brian Thompson will present 1 hour of "Free-for-all" and they want you to call in and ask thought provoking questions or just to BS!! Join them PRIME TIME on Thursday night at 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM!! Call[347] 838-8101!!!

-Mike Ogle vs. Justin Karma.. never happened. Ogle came out awaiting Karma, he went backstage to find him but was attacked by Jason Dalton. Jason threw Ogle through 6 rows of chairs and into the metal garage door which busted Ogle open. They battled all over the arena and outside in the parking lot. Eventually security pulled Jason off of Ogle. Commissioner Chris Dalton came to the ring and said that Justin Karma has no showed twice and will never work for the UWA again. He then made a Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight between Jason Dalton and Mike Ogle for "No Return".

The show opened with Frank Martin recapping the “4th in the Forest” and running down the card for the evening. As the matches started The Official came out and told Martin that he took the week off and was ready to wrestle again and that he wanted to wrestle the "Nerd" PP3. After PP3 got then win The Official went crazy in the ring. During the matches that the Official was a part of he kept walking out and or being biased towards the Heels.

Silas was more dominating than ever with the help of his manager they hurt the ribs of the big Indian.

During the Chris Steel/JD Cary match the student of Rodney Mack gave the veteran all he wanted. Steel got the win with the Mic Check. Steel then began to attack Cary while he was down and the Official walked out of the ring. Out of no where Gary Diamond hit the ring to make the save.

POB and The Playa's match was a Street Fight. They used everything from chairs to trash cans and even a fans artificial leg. These two tag teams beat each other all over the building and out to the parking lot. This was the kind of match that favored the POB and POB got the pin fall.

The tag team match between Rik Burton and Zane Richards and Ali Stevens and Steve "Dr. Death" Williams was everything that the fans expected. The team of Burton and Richards were not eager at all to lock up with Doc. After the hot tag the good Doctor took both Richards and Burton to school and got the win.

RWA owner David Martin commented to RRO “It was an honor to have Dr. Death in the RWA. He is a true professional and one of the greatest men in the business. Everyone of the workers learned so much from him and he spent time with everyone. The fans swarmed his table most all night.”

----220+ with standing room only…There were no mic spills just wrestling…Good to see them drawing such a good crowd. It didn’t hurt that they were seen at “4th in the Forest” and talked about on the radio station all week. Good advertisement. It also shows that Jonesboro could be a real good draw for wrestling.

----If you have ever wanted to call in and talk about anything related to wrestling, then this Thursday is the day to call. Brian Tramel and Brian Thompson will present 1 hour of "Free-for-all" and they want you to call in and ask thought provoking questions or just to BS!! Join them PRIME TIME on Thursday night at 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM!! Call[347] 838-8101!!!

----This video was posted on "Cannon's Fire" over at www.hollywoodjimmy.com and I just had to share it with everyone. Believe it or not - it features me!! LOL This was taken from a show when Bert Prentice ran regular shows in Jonesboro, AR. If you will look close in the front row [far right] is my ex-wife Stephanie [worked as "Real Kayte"], me and the real Kayte [my oldest daughter], who was almost 2 years old here.

----The attendance was 145-150 with $2 admission...Next week, TLCW will present Super Summer Showdown. The event begins at 1:00 P.M. at Ripley Park, and continues later that night at the TLCW arena. The main event of the evening will be a "Loser Leaves TLCW Match" between Tattoo and Derrick King.

The beginning of the show saw Hotrod and Drew Magruder come to the ring and talk about the nights actions. Jon Seymour was on vacation. They talked about the main event to crown a new TIWF Regional Heavyweight Champion. It would be Tag Team Single Elimination partners decided by the draw by fans. The stipulations would be pinfall, submission,countout or interference would get you put out. ( For example breaking a count!) They let the fans pick names out of a hat and this is the scheduled partners for the night. All of the TIWF superstars in attendance and in the back had their name in the hat..Partners- Mark Southern/Weasel, Locked & Loaded (Yes it was randomly picked that way), Criss Braggs/Way Cool, Simon Reed/Psycho Steven Rampage came out for an interview and talked about last week. At that time Bob and Dixie came to the ring and beat down Rampage. Cody Moore came to the ring for the save but got pummeled too. Dixie and Bob handcuffed Moore and Rampage to the ropes and they shaved Rampage’s back!!.Rampage and Moore later got unhand cuffed and issued a challenge for later on in the night..“The American Sensation” Weasel def. Samoan Raja & Iron Jake Johnson in a triple threat match. This was basically a two on one match as Raja and Jake both spent turns pummeling Weasel. Weasel fought back and got the pin though. Raja looked injured most of the match. Weasel outpaced Jake the entire match with highflying moves. Great match and great win..TIWF TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:New Breed of Perfection (Wildside and Waycool) def. The Posse ( Simon Reed) in what turned out to be a handicap match. Reed’s partner was no where to be seen and we have seen people mysteriously disappear before when they are scheduled to meet the NBOP. This match was scheduled for the tag team titles. Match started out with Simon charging the ring and getting beat down. He made a comeback and sent NBOP to the floor. Match was dominated by NBOP. They used a lot of Randy choking Simon and a lot of double team moves to put this one away early. Simon had a few moments where it looked like he would make a comeback. But, his attempt was futile. NBOP used the “Total Elimination”- via Eliminators ECW to secure the win..TIWF TV TITLE MATCH:.The Outlaw def. Chico Mendoza to become the new TV Champion. The match went back and forth with Outlaw having the upper hand early. Chico turned the match by executing a devastating sidewalk slam on Outlaw. End of the match saw Chico hit the Burrio Bomb on Outlaw and seemingly poised to win. However he was unable to pin Outlaw immediately and Outlaw went to his trunks for some brass knuckles. Mamacita saw this and alerted the ref. Mamacita, Outlaw and Ref were arguing in the corner when out of nowhere PK Ripper hits the ring and lays Chico out with the Singapore Cane. PK leaves just as quickly as he arrived and no one saw him. Outlaw turns around to see Chico down. Outlaw takes full advantage and gets the 1..2..3 and the TV Title… Outlaw slugs the ref after winning the belt.. After the match PK Ripper comes back out and finished what he started bv pummeling Chico with the cane. Mamacita tried to protect Chico but got belted too..TIWF TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Big Boy Bob and Dazzlin’ Dixie def. X-3 Prior to the match Rampage announced a new member of X-3 Cody Moore. This match saw an onslaught by the much larger team of Bob and Dixie. Lots of hard chops on Cody Moore in this match. Bob put the Hershey Highway on Moore. Rampage tried to carry the team, but essentially it was 2 on 1. Team Bob/Dixie win with a double variation move of the Samoan Drop/ Diamond Cutter!? After the match the action continued as Bob and Dixie beat down Rampage and Moore with chair shots..Main Event - TIWF Regional Heavyweight Title Rumble: Order of Entrance: Mark Southern, Locked & Loaded, Criss Braggs, Weasel, Simon Reed, Way Cool, Psycho. Partners- Mark Southern/Weasel, Locked & Loaded, Criss Braggs/Way Cool, Simon Reed/Psycho. The advantage early on went to the established tag team of Locked & Loaded (Tank/Lawman) Psycho made an early appearance and wrestled Weasel and Criss Braggs but got confused and wandered off, thus being eliminated. Locked and Loaded focused on Weasel, Braggs, and Way Cool. Tank Turner eliminated Weasel. Way Cool early on in the match almost got eliminated by interference but quickly remembered! Simon Reed was hobbled from his previous match and was unable to sustain any offense and had to tag out quickly..Order of Elimination:Psycho - Wandered Off Counted OutWeasel - Pinfall by Tank TurnerTank Turner - Pinfall by Criss BraggsCriss Braggs - Stunner and pin by Lawman WilliamsLawman Williams - Cool Breeze and pin by Way CoolWay Cool - Interference eliminated himself..The end of the match saw Simon Reed roll up Mark Southern for the pin and Way Cool interfered to break up the count but accidentally got himself disqualified. Last two standing Mark Southern & Simon Reed. They will face each other next week for the title..After the match Southern and Cool beat up Simon Reed. Hotrod entered the ring and tried to get them to stop. Wildside entered the ring and threatened Hotrod saying that Way Cool won the match. Hotrod denied it and Wildside and Way Cool attacked Hotrod. Wildside sprayed Hotrod with Whipped Cream and Way Cool put cherries on Hotrod. They were telling the crowd it was “ A Hotfudge Saturday Night” They offered samples to the crowd, of course no takers. The crowd was infuriated and seven security guys and two refs had to protect Wildside, Way Cool and Mark Southern as they left the arena.

----I am wanting a copy of the TGB vs Flash Flanagan bout from LAW on Friday night. I also want to see the tag match from "4th in the Forest" with Lee/Tatt2 vs Lane/Baron and the Baxter vs DK bout. Everyone has been raving about the TGB vs Flash and the tag match, so if I can get copies of the matches I will make them eligible for "Arena Match of the Year", because I could have not been at both events at the same time. I have also been told the DK/BB bout had TONS of heat and that Hales was SOOOOOO OVER as a heel. I want to see it!! Please e-mail and let's arrange a trade!!

Wrestling this year was brought to the 4th in the forest by the Royal Wrestling group in Jonesboro Ar.

Brother VS Brother match. Lethal Leprechaun VS Lucky Leprechaun. Winner Both the Leprechauns win as Booger from Kiss FM came to the ring and insulted the Leprechauns claiming that he was the world's largest midget. Lucky pushed Booger over Lethal and they both pinned Booger.

Frank Martin the owner of the Royal Wrestling Alliance opened the show and welcomed the crowd and introduced the Queen of the Royal Wrestling Alliance 2-time WWE Women's Champ Jazz. Jazz is out of competition for about 9 months as she and her husband Rodney Mack are expecting a baby. Best Wishes to the family. Next Frank brought to the ring one of the greatest wrestling legends in the business. DR Death Steve Williams. The crowd really showed the Doc that they still love him and the Doc had a great time at the 4th.

The tag team match featured 4 great performers who put on a great match. There were plenty of high flying spots in and out of the ring. Austin Lane and Tatt2 showed the crowd that they are a couple of the best workers in the business and Stan Lee did a great job as well. Malkavain held his own in the ring and looked good as well.

Zane Richards along with Classy Melton Massy had a great match with the Red Dog Rodney Mack. They teamed up to out smart Mack as Massy threw a chain in the ring and Zane missed with it and dropped it and Mack picked it up and the ref caught him. Mack was DQ for having the chain and Richards powdered quick. Mack has just come back from winning his first MMA fight with a knockout in the first round in less than a minute.

Ali Stevens gave the RWA Champ all he wanted and had the match won when Zane Richards hit the ring causing a DQ. This set up the match at the Kings Sportatorium Saturday night. Zane Richards and Rik Burton VS Ali Stevens and Dr Death Steve Williams.

Main Event. Derrick King and Randy Hales came out and took turns insulting the crowd. They had the crowd so mad they were throwing water and soda bottles at the ring for most of the match. Brandon Baxter caught the 3 count clean on King and then Hales got in the ring and called Baxter's girl friend a slut and Baxter came back to get his hands on Hales. They fought until Burton and Richards and Massy jumped Baxter. Ali Stevens and Rodney Mack came in for the save and they took Hales out the the lake and took turns slamming Hales in the water. The crowd loved it.

----I know that last year they had over 6 thousand people and everyone who I talked to that helped put this event on said there were a lot more than last year…It was a great time and the workers did a great job. Even though the Royal Wrestling Alliance was the sponsor for the wrestling 3 different promotions had workers there. Everyone got along and put on a great show. They should do this more often.

*TCW Champion Jeff Storm w/The Guardian defeated The Cobra Kid w/Jamie Gibson.After the match, Jamie Gibson announced that he was bringing in former ECW Champ,WWE Light-Heavyweight Champ,TNA X-Division Champ & the Pioneer of the X-Division, Jerry Lynn to take on Jeff Storm on August 9th.Storm didn't like the news and jumped Gibson and did more damage to his injured shoulder.

*Chance Gibson w/Brittany Diamond defeated Brett Storm w/Rebecca Lynn.After the match, Jeff Storm made his way to the ring and presented Rebecca Lynn with her cell phone and told her to give her cousin Jerry a call and tell him not to come to Mtn. City August 9th. Rebecca called Jerry, but he wanted to talk to Storm and he preceded to tell Storm that he would be in Mtn. City on the 9th and hung up on the champ. Storm told Lynn that since she was his cousin, he wanted her in his corner for that match so he could keep an eye on her. The Guardian, sick of all of Storm's tactics, spoke up and told Storm that if Lynn was going to be in his corner, he didn't want any part of it. He also told him he was tired of all of his crap and he told Storm that he quit! An angry Storm told him he couldn't quit that he was fired! The Guardian let Storm know what he thought of him by giving him the finger and leaving the ring. Rebecca Lynn stated that she would try to talk Jerry out of coming, but she knew Jerry and he wasn't one to back down from a fight.

*Mikkie McMasters defeated Exotica to become new US Champion.

*The King Brothers w/Rebecca Lynn beat the Southern Express w/Brittany Diamond to retain the Tag titles. Fantastic had Cross pinned and a dazed ref made the 3 count, but in all the confusion, the referee raised the hands on King & Cross. A frustrated Hawks and Fantastic wanted a rematch. King told them they could have a rematch if they would put their careers on the line. They agreed, but if the King Brothers lost the match, Brittany Diamond would get to shave Rebecca Lynn's head. Needless to say, Lynn was not happy about this at all. Looks like August 9th is going to be a stressful night for Ms. Lynn.

----On 7.20.07, “The Golden Boy” Greg Anthony defeated Chris O’Neal to become the LAW champ. For only a brief time when a few of the smaller groups were going to recognize an “Unified Champion”, TGB was not the champ, but rest of almost 1 year TGB held the belt.. In what was described as “an old NWA feel w/ a couple new age spots....easily 4 1/2****” match from one the workers on the show, Flash Flanagan is the new LAW Champion!! [pictured above] Please send me a copy of this match!!!

Jeff O'Dell at the beginning of the show presented Greg Anthony with a brand new LAW Championship. TGB said that he promised he was going to an even better champion now.

Tucker had a hard road in the tournament having to wrestle one his best friends in the 1st round. Then in the 2nd having to wrestle a physically dominating Robbie Douglas but both fell to The Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am. [Ok what move is this?? I love the name!!]

After Mark Sterling vanquished Cody Melton in a solid 1st round contest he ran directly into a road block known as Idol Bane. Bane was merciless on Mark's back and when Mark went for The Alabama Slam was unable to pick Idol up which lead to The Ghost of Andy Kauffman.

In the finals, Tucker, who had already wrestled twice, was obviously exhausted against a more well rested Idol Bane. Neither man was able to hit their signature moves on one another after counter and double counter. Idol Bane was having trouble putting Tucker away. A superplex performed by Bane had both competitors motionless on the mat. As the ref counted they both began to stir and as Tucker pulled himself up on the 2nd rope, Jeff O'Dell came out, took the Freedom Cup and nailed Tucker across the head. Idol then made the cover 1,2, 3.

In the main event, Flash dominated TGB in the opening minutes of this contest out wrestling him at every turn. It wasn't till TGB shot Flash into the corner and as TGB ran in Flash put up his boot, TGB swung his foot to the apron making Flash straddle the 2nd rope, TGB then kicked the rope essentially low blowing him but TGB couldn't be DQ'd. Flash made a huge comeback and went for his signature flying forearm but TGB tossed the ref in the way. Flash was then able to hit TGB with a Death Valley Driver but no ref to count. Idol Bane came with steel chair in hand and knocked out Flash Flanagan. Jeff O'Dell as quick as he could took the ref's shirt and put it on. 1, 2..... Tucker came and pulled Jeff O'Dell out of the ring. He then threw both Idol and Jeff into the post. Tucker jumped up on the apron but TGB knocked him off. Flash waiting with the kendo stick for TGB to turn around and when he did, TGB ducked and kicked Flash making him drop the kendo. TGB shot Flash into the ropes went for a back drop but back flipped over and landed on his feet to pick up the kendo. TGB turned around and was blasted. Flash made the cover as referee Sherina Folwer slid in the ring... 1.....2......3!

----40 to 60 in attendance and I was told by more than one worker that it was a loud and rowdy crowd…Next week will feature a Tables match for the LAW Tag Team Titles with “Trailer Park Trash” [Cody Murdock/Al Smith] trying to regain the titles from Chris Rocker and Slim "The Bulldog" Pickens.[aka “The Rock’n’Bulldog Express”..LOL]

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Listen into Jerkin' The Curtain radio Monday night, July 7th, and 10 central time as Tommy Stewart and I will again recap and review the newest episodes of NWA Main Event and SAW. These will be the reviews for the shows that aired on July 5th. These shows have both changed time slots, and in the case of SAW, have also changed channels. NWA Main Event now airs on Ion in Nashville, channel 17 on Comcast, at noon on Saturdays. SAW has left Ion, and now airs Saturdays at midnight on Comcast channel 74. Tommy and I will give our unbiased opinions of both shows, and declare a winner for the week. If you missed last weeks show, the archive is available of course, but here's the results.

TVD:NWA Main Event= Upper thumbs in the middleSAW= Upper thumbs in the middleI too thought it was very close, but I gave the edge to NWA Main Event. So that meant for the first time since we've been doing these reviews, it ends in a draw this week. The overall standings since we started these reviews are as follows...Cya Monday night. Trent Van Drisse